This story begins in London in a house where Rita lives with her teenage daughter Sarla. They are planning their summer vacation when suddenly Rita, who is a television reporter, receives a call to report a war live and Sarla is furious with her mother for suddenly leaving her alone. Longing for a proper family, Sarla decides to go down to India to visit her maternal grandparents in Daroga, a hill station in India. Rita is shocked by this turn of events, but she allows Sarla to travel to India. Sarla had last been in India, six years ago, when her mother had a big fight with her father and took her back to London.
In India, Sarla meets her grandparents and another teenager, Bina, who is a bit older than her but is very strange and mysterious in her own way. Bina is the granddaughter of Sarla’s grandparents’ household help. Here, the story takes many interesting turns and soon Sarla discovers the problems in Bina’s life and why she is always serious and mysterious. A sudden crisis brings the two girls together and they become the best of friends.
Bina’s mother Shobharani is in jail because she was once the bandit queen of the jungles and is treated like a goddess by the local villagers. Bina wants to study and become a doctor, but her grandparents are worried about marrying her off and settling her down before anyone finds out about her mother.
There is a side story of the liberation front guys trying to gather guns and money for the fight to get the mountainous region of the state a separate state. This brings a political view of the whole story. And, of course, there’s a sweet teenage love story running in parallel, beginning with blushes, revelations, and ending in a strong, lifelong bond.
There are more surprises in store for the reader towards the end as the various stories intertwine and unfold page by page. The relationship between Sarla and her mother Rita is shown to be a bit shaky at first, but towards the end it is shown that they have a heart-to-heart talk like a mother and daughter and the special bond they share is clearly depicted there.
A beautifully written job! The story is very well told! The best aspect of this storytelling was that it was narrated by the two central characters, Sarla and Bina, both teenagers, and the story was told the way they saw things happen around them and themselves. All the characters in the story are well shot and distinctively portrayed.
The story is mainly set in an Indian village and subtly talks about the problems faced by the poor and women in these parts of the world and points out the suffering and misery of women and girls as they are considered unwanted by their own parents. .